Lizzie’s Curbside Cuisine Celebrates 18 years at UConn
Katherine Martinez, DailyCampus

Parked off the side of the road between Arjona and Monteith sits Lizzie’s Curbside. The food cart, which just celebrated it’s 18th anniversary on Feb. 1, is owned and operated by the smiling Lizanne Searing.

It only takes one visit to Lizzie’s Curbside to get a feel for her charming personality. Lizzie greets every customer, and their friends, with bright eyes and a wide smile. She calls out the names of customers who have become regulars over the years as they approach from afar.

“I would suffer tremendously if she didn’t exist,” said Anke Finger, a professor of German and comparative literature as she orders a coffee. Finger admits to coming at least three or four times a week.

“I enjoy the camaraderie of the people,” Searing said, “some of the regulars come up and I already know what they’re going to order.”

According to Searing, about half of her regulars are faculty and staff, the other half are students.

The students are big fans of the breakfast sandwiches, she says. A big seller is The Shroom, which is eggs, swiss cheese and mushrooms with dill and scallion sauce. Most places stop selling breakfast at 11 a.m, but Lizzie’s serves breakfast all day.

At 2 p.m., a student approaches the cart and orders a bacon, egg and cheese with hot sauce. The hot sauce is a popular among customers because it is made from scratch.

“I couldn’t always make sandwiches to order,” explains Searing. When she first started out in 1991, Lizzie had just a hot dog cart with a steam table for soup and pre-wrapped bagels, muffins and sandwiches. Searing’s previous job was serving food at a sky box at the Hartford Civic Center, where the chef at the restaurant convinced her to open up a hot dog cart on campus. Listening to his advice, Searing obtained a permit for the spot before she even had the cart.

After two years, Searing added a closure to the cart, which protected her from the weather and enabled her to add a griddle. She switched to a larger wagon after about two to three years, and then started to make egg sandwiches. Her current wagon is about four years old.

Searing owns a kitchen in Coventry, and runs a full service catering business. All of the food cooked at Lizzie’s Curbside is fresh from the kitchen and made from scratch. Searing, who is a healthy eater, always has a vegetarian option and often has gluten-free food.

“Tomorrow the special is vegetarian lasagna,” she says with a smile. According to Searing, the specials are always the most popular item.

Jim Magnunson, a psychology professor, ordered the special of the day.

“The first thing I ever purchased on campus was a tuna terragon sandwich back in 2004,” he joked with her.

Many customers remember their first experiences with Lizzie’s Curbside.

“When I transferred here I lived off campus and didn’t know how to cook. I would come here almost every day,” said Holly Burke, a 10th-semester political science and history major, “The Swedish meatball special was my favorite,” she added.

Searing tries to come up with new specials whenever possible. She bases a lot of her ideas off of her travels. Some notable past themes have been Peruvian and Greek foods.

When asked if she would ever consider giving up her cart to focus on her catering, Searing insisted that she would always be around.

“I love it, it’s all I know. Food is my life,” she said happily.